2019 Kazakhstan Premier League
# 2019 Kazakhstan Premier League

The 2019 Kazakhstan Premier League was the 28th season of the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest football league competition in Kazakhstan. FC Astana defended their title, winning the championship for the sixth season in a row, whilst FC Atyrau and FC Aktobe were relegated and FC Taraz survived a relegation playoff against FC Akzhayik.

## Teams

FC Kyzylzhar and FC Akzhayik were relegated at the end of the 2018 season, and were replaced by FC Okzhetpes and FC Taraz.

### Team overview

| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| Aktobe | Aktobe | Aktobe Central Stadium | 15,000 |
| Astana | Nur-Sultan | Nur-Sultan Arena | 30,000 |
| Atyrau | Atyrau | Munaishy Stadium | 8,690 |
| Irtysh | Pavlodar | Pavlodar Central Stadium | 15,000 |
| Kairat | Almaty | Almaty Central Stadium | 25,057 |
| Kaisar | Kyzylorda | Gani Muratbayev Stadium | 7,500 |
| Okzhetpes | Kokshetau | Alisher Sagynbayev Stadium | 4,158 |
| Ordabasy | Shymkent | Kazhymukan Munaitpasov Stadium | 20,000 |
| Shakhter | Karaganda | Shakhter Stadium | 20,000 |
| Taraz | Taraz | Yerkebulan Babayev Stadium | 11,525 |
| Tobol | Kostanay | Bauyrzhan Sagintayev Stadium | 10,500 |
| Zhetysu | Taldykorgan | Samat Suyumbayev Stadium | 4,000 |

### Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Aktobe | Mykhaylo Fomenko | Marcos Pizzelli | Adidas | — |
| Astana | Roman Hryhorchuk | Dmitri Shomko | Adidas | Samruk-Kazyna |
| Atyrau | Yuri Krasnozhan | Marat Khayrullin | Nike | — |
| Irtysh | Samvel Babayan | Nikita Kalmykov | Nike | ENRC |
| Kairat | Talgat Baysufinov | Bauyrzhan Islamkhan | Nike | Halyk Bank |
| Kaisar | Stoycho Mladenov | Maksat Baizhanov | Nike | — |
| Okzhetpes | Bakhytzhan Babayev | | Adidas | — |
| Ordabasy | Kakhaber Tskhadadze | Azat Nurgaliev | Nike | Aysu Mineral Water |
| Shakhter | Nikolay Kostov | Evgeniy Tarasov | Nike | BTL Kazakhstan |
| Taraz | Nurken Mazbaev | Ilya Vorotnikov | Nike | — |
| Tobol | Vladimir Gazzayev | Azat Nurgaliev | Adidas | Polymetal |
| Zhetysu | Dmitry Ogai | | Adidas | — |

### Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to eight per KPL team. A team can use only five foreign players on the field in each game.

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Player 7 | Player 8 | Player 9 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Aktobe | Marcos Pizzelli | Hrvoje Miličević | Oleksandr Kitsak | | | | | | |
| Astana | Ivan Mayewski | Luka Šimunović | Marin Tomasov | Rangelo Janga | Ndombe Mubele | Rúnar Már Sigurjónsson | Žarko Tomašević | Dorin Rotariu | Antonio Rukavina |
| Atyrau | Alex Bruno | Sebastijan Antić | Antun Marković | Jacques Alberto Ngwem | Piotr Grzelczak | Islamnur Abdulavov | Vitali Ustinov | Boubacar Mansaly | Rizvan Ablitarov |
| Irtysh | Jérémy Manzorro | Patrik Hidi | Carlos Fonseca | Dejan Georgijević | Milan Mirosavljev | Miloš Stamenković | Uroš Vitas | Ruslan Mingazow | |
| Kairat | Syarhey Palitsevich | Dino Mikanović | Márton Eppel | Han Jeong-uh | Nebojša Kosović | Konrad Wrzesiński | Rade Dugalić | Aderinsola Eseola | |
| Kaisar | Tigran Barseghyan | Joshua John | Ivan Sadownichy | Abdel Lamanje | Ivan Graf | André Bukia | Kule Mbombo | Bratislav Punoševac | |
| Okzhetpes | Danilo Almeida Alves | Plamen Dimov | Artjom Dmitrijev | Deimantas Petravičius | Darko Zorić | Milan Stojanović | Ivan Bobko | | |
| Ordabasy | Pablo Fontanello | Ziguy Badibanga | Mirzad Mehanović | João Paulo | May Mahlangu | Abdoulaye Diakate | Kyrylo Kovalchuk | | |
| Shakhter | Ivan Pešić | Sergei Zenjov | Donjet Shkodra | Reginaldo | Miloš Vidović | Luwagga Kizito | Artem Baranovskyi | Yevhen Tkachuk | |
| Taraz | Elivelto | Gian | Lasha Kasradze | Elguja Lobjanidze | Mihailo Jovanović | Aleksandar Simčević | Nemanja Subotić | Serge Nyuiadzi | |
| Tobol | Emil Balayev | Fernander Kassaï | Nika Kvekveskiri | Jaba Kankava | Senin Sebai | Vytautas Andriuškevičius | Artūras Žulpa | Nikita Bocharov | |
| Zhetysu | Kamo Hovhannisyan | Andrey Lebedzew | Nikita Naumov | Martin Toshev | David Mawutor | Mantas Kuklys | Oleg Hromțov | Nenad Adamović | Ruslan Stepanyuk |

In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Kairat | Andrei Karpovich (Caretaker) | End of Contract | 25 November 2018 | Pre-Season | Aleksey Shpilevsky | 25 November 2018 |
| Aktobe | Vladimir Mukhanov | | | Pre-Season | Aleksandr Sednyov | 9 January 2019 |
| Okzhetpes | Sergey Popkov | | | Pre-Season | Andrei Karpovich | 3 January 2019 |
| Tobol | Marek Zub | End of Contract | 31 December 2018 | Pre-Season | Vladimir Gazzayev | 31 December 2018 |
| Atyrau | Viktor Kumykov | Mutual Consent | 27 April 2019 | 11th | Kuanysh Kuandulov (Caretaker) | 27 April 2019 |
| Irtysh Pavlodar | Dimitar Dimitrov | Suspended | 2 May 2019 | 9th | Sergey Klimov (Caretaker) | 2 May 2019 |
| Atyrau | Kuanysh Kuandulov (Caretaker) | End of Caretaker Role | 3 May 2019 | 11th | Oleg Dulub | 3 May 2019 |
| Irtysh Pavlodar | Sergey Klimov (Caretaker) | End of Caretaker Role | 7 June 2019 | 9th | Milan Milanović | 7 June 2019 |
| Tobol | Vladimir Gazzayev | Resigned | 21 July 2019 | 1st | Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev (Caretaker) | 22 July 2019 |

## Regular season

### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Astana (C) | 33 | 22 | 3 | 8 | 67 | 28 | +39 | 69 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Kairat | 33 | 22 | 2 | 9 | 65 | 32 | +33 | 68 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Ordabasy | 33 | 19 | 8 | 6 | 52 | 24 | +28 | 65 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Tobol | 33 | 19 | 6 | 8 | 45 | 27 | +18 | 63 | |
| 5 | Zhetysu | 33 | 16 | 8 | 9 | 45 | 25 | +20 | 56 | |
| 6 | Kaisar | 33 | 12 | 6 | 15 | 37 | 43 | −6 | 42 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 7 | Okzhetpes | 33 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 44 | 49 | −5 | 40 | |
| 8 | Irtysh Pavlodar | 33 | 11 | 4 | 18 | 30 | 45 | −15 | 37 | |
| 9 | Shakhter Karagandy | 33 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 40 | 47 | −7 | 35 | |
| 10 | Taraz (O) | 33 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 28 | 60 | −32 | 29 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 11 | Atyrau (R) | 33 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 25 | 58 | −33 | 26 | Relegation to the Kazakhstan First Division |
| 12 | Aktobe (R) | 33 | 7 | 6 | 20 | 35 | 75 | −40 | 15 | Relegation to the Kazakhstan First Division |

* ↑ Kaisar qualified for the Europa League second qualifying round by winning the 2019 Kazakhstan Cup.
* ↑ Aktobe had six points deducted on 18 February 2019 as a punishment for unpaid debts to former player Dele Adeleye. On 14 March 2019, Aktobe were handed a further six point deduction for unpaid debts to former player Nemanja Nikolić.

### Results

**Games 1–22**

| Home \ Away | AKT | AST | ATY | IRT | KRT | KSR | OKZ | ORD | SHA | TAR | TOB | ZHE |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Aktobe | — | 2–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Astana | 4–1 | — | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Atyrau | 1–1 | 0–3 | — | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Irtysh Pavlodar | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–3 |
| Kairat | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | 5–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Kaisar | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 0–1 |
| Okzhetpes | 4–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Ordabasy | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | — | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Shakhter Karagandy | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Taraz | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–6 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Tobol | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–5 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | — | 0–0 |
| Zhetysu | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — |

**Games 23–33**

| Home \ Away | AKT | AST | ATY | IRT | KRT | KSR | OKZ | ORD | SHA | TAR | TOB | ZHE |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Aktobe | — | — | 3–2 | 1–1 | — | — | 1–2 | — | 3–2 | 2–2 | — | — |
| Astana | 5–0 | — | — | 0–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | — | — | 2–1 | 5–0 | — | — |
| Atyrau | — | 1–4 | — | 0–3 | — | — | 2–2 | 1–3 | — | — | — | 0–3 |
| Irtysh Pavlodar | — | — | — | — | 5–0 | 2–1 | — | — | 4–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | — |
| Kairat | 6–0 | — | 2–1 | — | — | — | 0–1 | 4–1 | — | — | 2–0 | 4–1 |
| Kaisar | 1–3 | — | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | — | — | — | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Okzhetpes | — | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | — | — | — | 0–4 | — | 2–3 | — | 1–1 |
| Ordabasy | 4–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | — | 0–2 | — | — | 3–2 | 3–0 | — | — |
| Shakhter Karagandy | — | — | 0–1 | — | 0–4 | 3–0 | 2–2 | — | — | — | 0–1 | — |
| Taraz | — | — | 2–2 | — | 0–2 | 2–1 | — | — | 0–0 | — | 0–5 | — |
| Tobol | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | — | — | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | — | — | 0–0 |
| Zhetysu | 5–0 | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | — | — | — | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | — | — |

## Statistics

### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Ablaykhan Makhambetov for Zhetysu against Okzhetpes (9 March 2019)

### Top scorers

    As of matches played 10 November 2019

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Marin Tomasov | Astana | 19 |
| 1 | Aderinsola Eseola | Kairat | 19 |
| 3 | Abat Aimbetov | Aktobe | 16 |
| 3 | Márton Eppel | Kairat | 16 |
| 5 | João Paulo | Ordabasy | 15 |
| 6 | Tigran Barseghyan | Kaisar | 11 |
| 6 | Azat Nurgaliev | Tobol | 11 |
| 8 | Kule Mbombo | Kaisar | 9 |
| 8 | Martin Toshev | Zhetysu | 9 |
| 10 | Toktar Zhangylyshbay | Ordabasy | 8 |
| 10 | Ivan Pešić | Shakhter Karagandy | 8 |
| 10 | Sergei Zenjov | Shakhter Karagandy | 8 |
| 10 | Elguja Lobjanidze | Taraz | 8 |
| 10 | Serge Nyuiadzi | Taraz | 8 |
| 10 | Senin Sebai | Tobol | 8 |
| 10 | Bauyrzhan Turysbek | Tobol | 8 |

### Clean sheets

    Updated to matches played on 10 November 2019.

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Emil Balayev | Tobol | 18 |
| 2 | Dmytro Nepohodov | Ordabasy | 16 |
| 3 | Stas Pokatilov | Kairat | 13 |
| 4 | Almat Bekbaev | Zhetysu | 11 |
| 5 | Nenad Erić | Astana | 10 |
| 5 | Igor Shatskiy | Shakhter Karagandy | 10 |
| 7 | Aleksandr Grigorenko | Kaisar | 6 |
| 8 | Andrey Shabanov | Zhetysu | 5 |
| 8 | Anton Tsirin | Irtysh Pavlodar | 5 |
| 10 | Yaroslav Baginsky | Okzhetpes | 4 |
| 10 | Mukhammejan Seisen | Taraz | 4 |
| 10 | Alexander Zarutsky | Atyrau | 4 |
